The Missing Link
by CatzRuleMe
Summary: At the request of namine'stwin, a genderbent version of "What Was Missing." When Fionna, Cake, Prince Gumball and Marshall Lee lose their belongings to a Door Lady, they must form a band in hopes of getting their stuff back. But might there be an underlying lesson to all this?


The treehouse seemed to be completely deserted. An eerie silence befell the place, and Fionna wondered if they were gone.

"Hello?" she called. "Cake? Geemo? Are you around?"

When she waited for a moment and got no response, she quietly removed a cushion from the couch to reveal a wad of gum laying there. It was a lock of Prince Gumball's hair, which she acquired when trying to find some hair for an ugly old wizard. Since he didn't approve of wearing gum for hair, Fionna decided to keep it.

Fionna gently took the wad of hair and cradled it in her hands, then hugged it to her face. She loved the sensation she got from seeing, feeling, smelling a part of Gumball. It was as if he were right there, cradling her in his arms.

Cake and Geemo, who had been hiding behind the couch, suddenly sprang up. Cake grabbed Fionna's shoulder and teasingly yelled: "Hey, girl! What's goin' on?"

Fionna screamed in shock and tried to hide the lock of hair from view. "Dude, what's your problem!"

"Don't worry, Fi," Cake said, hopping onto the couch. "We won't tell anyone. But don't think we didn't know about the 'private time' you spend with that wad of Gumball's hair."

Fionna grumbled and blushed. "How did you know?"

"Fionna, we're roommates," Cake hissed, as if it were obvious. "But don't worry, girl. I'll share my beloved keepsake with you!" Cheerily, Cake hopped off the sofa and lifted up the floorboard, then pulled out an old, dusty teddy bear. "Ta-da! It's my old teddy bear that Momma gave me!"

Suddenly, a door appeared in the middle of the room. Fionna moved closer to it out of curiosity, and it quickly swung open. A strange creature that looked like her mouth was full leapt out. SHe wore a hat with a small door on top of it and a bag strapped to her back. Before anyone in the room could react, the creature sprang across the room and snatched Cake's teddy bear. She cried out in protest, and Fionna grew outraged and prepared herself to fight. But before she could do anything, the creature grabbed her lock of Gumball's hair and ripped Geemo's controller out of its jack and it emitted a small but tragic "Nooo!"

The creature grabbed a key out of her bag and threw it. It quickly morphed into a door and the creature escaped through it. Fionna, Cake and Geemo followed the monster through the door and across an empty field, where they witnessed her grab a little candy girl's doll and run off. As the trio passed the teary-eyed little girl, Fionna quickly said without thinking: "I'll get your girl back, doll!"

The creature stopped and turned around to look at the trio that was following her, almost as if she were cornered, but then she tossed a key up into the air and it morphed into an open door. She sprang nearly ten feet in the air and made it through the door.

"She must have some major squats," Cake mumbled.

When Cake stretched her friends up to the door, they just barely saw the creature run off into another door while Prince Gumball was chasing her down.

"Come back, you thieving Door Lady!" he screamed. "You butthead!"

"Come on, Gumball," Fionna said, determined to continue chasing the beast.

"Fionna!" Gumball exclaimed.

As he saw Fionna run off with Cake and Geemo, he decided to join the chase. They followed the Door Lady's path into Marshall Lee's house, where they heard a struggle. They peered around the corner to see the vampire swinging his bass wildly at the Door Lady before she opened up another door and fled. Marshall tried to pursue her, but he hissed with sudden pain when he realized that the door led to sunlight. As a few strands of smoke emanated from his burnt skin, he crouched on the floor and tried to regain his energy.

"Marshall!" Fionna cried out, running to his aid. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah…" He curled into the fetal position on the floor, trying to block out the few traces of sunlight that stung his skin.

"Don't worry, we'll get her!" Fionna growled, jumping through the door with her friends not far behind.

The quartet chased the Door lady down a long canyon before she threw another key. This time, it morphed into a massive double door and it closed shut behind her. Fionna ran smack into the wall, then proceeded to try and open it. She pounded it furiously, but it was tightly shut.

"NO!" she screamed. Suddenly, she noticed words appearing on the door, and she read them aloud. "'This door shall yield to no command, save for a song from a genuine band.' What is this fudge?"

"It's the door of the Door Lady, Fionna," Gumball replied as he caught up to them, Marshall following not far behind with a pair of long gloves and a massive sombrero. "We used to lock them up, but they always escape. Because they're Door Ladies."

"They escape because you let them live," Marshall remarked.

Gumball growled at him.

"Hmm," Fionna muttered, deep in thought. "The door said it'll open for a genuine band. So let's try to form a quintet and play some music. Maybe we can get it to open."

"Ooh! Ooh!" Cake cried out. "Can I be the jerk of the band? Cause that's a big part in making a band successful!" She screwed up her face, trying to look as uptight as possible.

Marshall held his bass and began strumming. "I know how to get through this door. We're gonna lay down a slow jam."

"Yeah, great idea!" Fionna praised.

"Just keep it cool," Marshall said. "Got that, Bubba?"

Gumball growled again. He picked up Geemo and removed its front cover. "Ooh, my face!" it cried. Gumball ignored it and set it on his lap, then began poking it to make electronic notes. Geemo giggled at the ticklish sensation.

"Let's see if you freaks can keep up with my raw talent!" Cake snarled as she started playing her dulcimer.

Fionna started beatboxing, and Marshall began floating to the top of the door while playing his bass. He also began singing to the beat of the others.

_La da da da da_

_I'm gonna bury you in the ground_

_La da da da da_

_I'm gonna bury you in my sound_

_I'm gonna drink the blood from your petty being_

_I'm gonna…_

"Marshall Lee, that's so distasteful!" Gumball blurted out.

"What, you don't like it?" Marshall asked, growing angry. "OR DO YOU JUST NOT LIKE ME!" He began singing a different set of lyrics.

_Sorry I don't treat you like you're a god_

_Is that what you want me to do?_

_Sorry I don't treat you like you're perfect_

_Like all your loyal subjects do_

_Sorry I'm not made of candy_

_And not good enough for you_

_Is that why you always avoid me?_

_I must be such an inconvenience to you_

_Well, I'm just your problem_

_I'm just you're problem_

The door behind Marshall started to glow, but he seemed completely unaware of it as his only mission was to tear Gumball apart through song.

_It's like I'm don't even exist_

_I'm just your problem_

_Well, I shouldn't have to justify what I do…_

"It's working!" Fionna said cheerily to Gumball before realizing that he was glaring at Marshall. "Look at the door!"

…on your blacklist but I

Shouldn't be the one who makes up with you

_So why do I want to?_

_Why do I want to…_

"To…" Marshall had run out of lyrics and the door was only half-open. "To…bury you in the ground…and drink the blood from your puny neck…"

The door stopped glowing, and Marshall hissed with frustration. He glanced at Gumball, who was staring at him with shock.

"Stop looking at me!" the vampire roared, flying over to him. "You're throwing me off!"

"Come on, we can't stop now!" Fionna yelled desperately. "The door was about to open to our music! I wonder what it wanted. What was the missing link?"

"Well, I know the missing link," Cake snarled. "Talent. I'm surrounded by hacks. Talentless hacks! I'm outta here." And with that, she stormed off.

"What's her problem?" Marshall wondered aloud.

"Maybe to be a _genuine_ band, we need to be nicer to each other, and hang out as buds!" Fionna suggested. She sat on the ground and grabbed a block of uncooked noodles out of her pack. "Who wants noodles?"

Marshall started to fly away upon seeing the noodles, but Fionna called desperately after him. "No, wait! Don't leave!"

"I'm just gonna find some stuff to cook that with," Marshall explained.

"Cook?" Fionna said, as if Marshall were speaking another language.

"That was touching, Fionna," Gumball said warmheartedly. "What you said about being buds."

Fionna nodded, blushing. "Thanks."

"I'm back, guys!" Marshall announced, setting a small pot and portable stove on the ground. He turned to Geemo and said: "Come here, you!"

"Oh!" Geemo exclaimed as Marshall set it on the ground and plugged the stove into it.

When Marshall noticed that the sun was going down, he finally felt it safe enough to take off his gloves and sombrero. He had felt silly having to wear them all day. As they sat there waiting for the water in the pot to boil, Fionna began to form lyrics.

"Pasta…water…getting…hotter!" she said. "How about a song involving noodles?"

"NO!" Marshall and Gumball barked in unison.

"Okay," Fionna whispered. Almost spontaneously, they all burst into laughter.

"For our next endeavor, may I be the lead?" Gumball asked.

"Sounds cool," Fionna said, knowing she'd love to see Gumball take control.

Just then, Cake reappeared to the group, but she looked completely different. She was tall with a pair of skinny jeans and a small pink tank top. Her hair was shaped like a mohawk and draped over one side of her head, similar to how Marshall's hair was once except longer.

"Cake, you came back!" Fionna cheered.

"Shut it, you!" Cake snapped. "I came back for the music."

"Geemo, execute song structure alpha," Gumball instructed, having taken Geemo's face back off and started playing it. "Marshall Lee, begin playing tripling quavers in the mixillenium mode."

"Whatever," Marshall mumbled, strumming his bass. "Wait, what's a quaver?"

"Fionna, vibrate your uvula by dampening and undampening your lyrics," Gumball continued.

"Huh?" Fionna asked.

Gumball rapidly wiggled his finger across his throat, making his voice vibrate. "Go like this, Fionna."

"Oh, right," Fionna said, blushing. She began making noises while doing what Gumball instructed.

"Cake, will you join us?" Gumball asked.

Cake furiously smashed her dulcimer. Marshall began to feel the rage emanating off of her and was about to do the same with his bass.

"Please stick to my blueprints!" Gumball pleaded, growing angry himself. Suddenly, Geemo short-circuited and stopped playing.

"Let's try again," Fionna suggested.

Gumball blushed. "I may have…miscalculated."

"I knew it!" Marshall shouted. "You're not nearly as good as you think you are! So why do you judge me?"

"I never said you had to be great!" Gumball spat. "In fact, you never were! You're noting but a lying, good-for-nothing leech!"

"Now now," Fionna said desperately.

Without hesitation, Marshall spit on Gumball's shoulder. He looked at it, and his face screwed into such a distortion of anger that he could no longer speak. He just turned around and walked away.

"No, wait!" Fionna yelled.

"Good riddance!" Marshall hissed. "I'm outta here too!"

"You've all forgotten about the music!" Cake whined. She ran away and yelled: "I QUIT! I'm just pretending, Fionna!"

"Cake! Guys!" Fionna cried. "We can beat this Door Lady! I know we can! We can do it…together…" Without really thinking about it, Fionna began singing.

_Everyone, sweet prince of gum, I'm so dumb_

_I should have just told you what I lost_

_Was a piece of your hair_

Gumball stopped dead in his tracks and blushed. The others stopped as well and turned to listen to Fionna sing.

_Now it's gone, gone forever_

_But, I guess, what does it matter when I just_

_Just had all of you there_

_Oh, I just had all of you there with me, my friends_

_If you're even my friends…_

Fionna noticed that the door was glowing brightly to her music. A wave of realization washed over her when she finally figured it out. "You like this? Of course! That was the missing link! The truth!" She continued to sing as Marshall began strumming his bass.

_What am I to you?_

_Am I a joke, your sister, or another?_

_What am I to you?_

_Do you look down on me cause I'm younger?_

_Do you think that I don't understand?_

_I just wanted us to get together and to play as a band_

_Last night was the most fun I ever had_

_Even liked it when the two of you would get mad at each other_

The others joined in: Gumball with Geemo and Cake with her Dulcimer.

_Oh, you are my best friends in the world_

_You are my best friends in the world_

_That's right, I'm talking 'bout my two bros_

Gumball and Marshall smiled at her, and Cake shifted back into her normal self, letting her clothing fall to the ground.

_And you, Cake_

_I'm gonna sing a song to you and I refuse to make it fake_

_What am I to you?_

_Am I a joke, your sister, or another?_

_What am I to you?_

_Do you look down on me cause I'm younger?_

_Do you think that I don't understand?_

_I just wanted us to get together and to play as a band_

_I'll forget that I lost a piece of your hair_

_I'll remember the pasta that we shared over there_

_Oh, you are my best friends in the world_

_You are my best friends in the world_

_That's right, I'm talking 'bout my two bros_

_And you, Cake_

_I'm gonna sing a song to you and I refuse to make it fake_

_Make no mistake_

_I'm gonna sing a song that feels so real it'll make this door break_

As soon as the quintet finished, the door opened and a doorway opened up. The Door Lady sat on the floor eating a grilled cheese, but jumped up when she saw the group running toward her.

"It's over, Door Lady!" Fionna shouted. "So give back our stuff!"

The Door lady shook her head and tried to tell them something, but since her mouth was full, Fionna didn't understand her.

"What?" Fionna asked.

"I get it," Marshall said, flying over to Fionna. "She may have stolen our treasures…"

Gumball added: "But by doing so, she showed us…"

"…that the true treasure is friendship," Cake said.

The Door Lady cheered, happy that her message got across. But she was quickly beaten to a pulp and tied up, and Cake began sifting through her bag and redistributing its contents to their rightful owners.

"Here's that lock of Gumball's hair you love," Cake said, handing the wad of hair to Fionna.

"That's whacked," Gumball said, expressionless.

Fionna blushed madly and sighed.

"My teddy!" Cake exclaimed, hugging her bear to her chest. "Oh, and Geemo, here's your controller!"

She handed Geemo its controller, which it took greatly and spun like a lasso, chanting: "Yippee-kay-a-yee!"

Cake withdrew a hardcore metal band t-shirt of some kind and handed it to Marshall. "Marshall, here's your t-shirt."

Marshall frowned. "Wait…that's not…"

Gumball ran in front of Marshall and took the shirt, blushing. "Oh, it's mine! I apologize."

"You…kept the shirt I gave you?" Marshall asked hesitantly.

"Yeah," Gumball replied. "I love it."

"But you never wear it," Marshall said.

"Dude, I wear it all the time," Gumball said, slipping it on. "As a pajama top."

"Wait," Fionna interrupted. "If that's Gumball's shirt, what are you missing, Marshall?"

When Marshall didn't answer, realization dawned on Fionna again. "Wait a minute…you're not missing anything! You just wanted to hang out with us!"

"Hey, not true!" Marshall said, blushing.

"Don't lie to me, Marshall," Fionna said. "I've figured you out!"

Fionna, Gumball and Cake all started laughing, to which Marshall angrily morphed into a ghoulish creature and chased them away, screaming "I'LL KILL YOU!"

The rest of them exited the door and ran laughing into the night.


End file.
